


Ace Dex

by B_Frizzy



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: (that isn't already a tag because we love our angst), Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Boys In Love, Canon-Typical Drinking, Casual aphobia, Established Relationship, F/M, M/M, Multi, Other, Relationship Negotiation, Virginity, good communication, soft boys in a good relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-06 16:13:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11604201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/B_Frizzy/pseuds/B_Frizzy
Summary: A view into Nursey and Dex's relationship, how they handle his asexuality, and how Dex works to make himself a better person for his boyfriend.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Each chapter is written to be read separately, but they belong together as a progression of Nursey and Dex's relationship.   
> If you've read through my tumblr posts, the first few chapters will seem familiar to you.

_Nursey: I got a bingo. You owe me (1) favor_

Dex couldn’t help but grin down at his phone. He wasn’t even mad that he lost their game.

_who was it?_

Back when they started dating, he and Nursey had an understanding that they didn’t want to tell the team. Not because either of them were in the closet or anything; they just didn’t want to endure the drama that the team would inevitably stir up. Avoiding the fines was a nice perk, too. It wasn’t that they were hiding it, they just didn’t tell anyone.

The thing was, though, the team gossiped like old ladies. So, when Lardo noticed that their fighting was less serious and more playful, she mentioned it to Bitty. Bitty ran with that theory, assuming that it meant sexual tension, and told Ransom and Holster that they were pining. Ransom and Holster tried to bribe Chowder into giving them hints how to get the two together. But Chowder walked in on them making out, and already agreed to keep their secrets.

It didn’t take long for the “subtle” (at least, they thought they were being subtle) nudges to set up Nursey and Dex. Then, the subtle turned blatant and everyone was trying their hardest to set them up without actually setting them up.

So, Nursey and Dex turned it into a game. They each made a bingo card with members of the team and was that they might try to set them up. It was mostly a joke, at first, but then they both got a square in the same day and they decided to make it a real competition.

_Whiskey with “just fuck each other already”, two squares for the win_

When someone knocked into him from behind, Dex realized that he had stopped in the middle of the quad. He quickly typed out a response, so that he could keep walking to the computer lab in the basement of the admin building, the one that was always empty.

_well make it a good one, you’re not getting shit from me anytime soon_

It wasn’t long into his essay that he forgot about the whole thing. Until he got back to their room, that is.

Nursey had cleaned; he shoved all of their dirty laundry in the hamper, picked up all of his heavy anthologies off the floor, even stacked their broken sticks in the corner of the room. The lights were turned off, but there were candles everywhere (apple pie scented, so Bitty’s). It looked frighteningly similar to how Dex set up his room when he was trying to get into his first girlfriend, Emily’s pants.

Nursey was standing off to the side, a huge grin on his face.

“Dude, are you trying to take my virginity or something? What the fuck is with all of this?” Dex was mostly joking… Mostly. He threw down his backpack and closed the door behind him.

Nursey opened his arms wide. “This is my favor. One romantic evening with my boyfriend. I tried to make tissue paper flower petals to really set the mood, but kind of set myself on fire, so just candles will have to do.”

Dex didn’t know where to start. The whole romantic evening thing wasn’t a huge deal; they both knew that Dex was a giant softie. They usually didn’t go so all-out, though. The fact that Nursey kind of set himself on fire, which wasn’t exactly surprising, but was maybe a little alarming. Or…

“This isn’t about that, right?”

It took Nursey a minute to understand what Dex was asking, but when he did, his smile turned into a look of shock. He rushed over to pull Dex into a big hug.

“Babe, no, of course not. C’mon, you know I don’t care about that.”

Dex melted into the hug.

Their conversation about Dex’s asexuality happened even before they were dating. It was the first time he told anyone. Nursey was nothing but supportive of him. When they started dating, Dex expected that to change, but it never did.

It wasn’t until months into their relationship that Dex told Nursey that he had never actually had sex before. He was afraid that Nursey would try to tell him that he couldn’t know he was asexual if he never had sex before, but that didn’t happen. Nursey barely reacted at all, and a part of Dex was still wanting for the other shoe to drop.

“I just want a backrub while we watch Goon. And maybe your slice of the vinegar pie Bitty’s making.”

Dex pulled back far enough to give Nursey a soft kiss.

“Oh, and on your way here I got another square. Play ‘til blackout?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace Dex combating the casual aphobia that we all deal with at some point.   
> (don't forget... SMH are a group of college frat guys. they're sometimes problematic)

“Dude, you’ve never done the nasty?”

Dex rolled his eyes, hard. Whiskey’s tone was just this side of shocked, and it made Dex was to take back the fact that he had said anything at all. It wasn’t exactly that he expected the team to be more understanding than other people, but he hoped that was the case, anyway.

On top of that, Whiskey managed to catch the attention of Ransom and Holster, who were walking past, heads close together.

“Wait, what’s this about someone never smuggling the ol’ bone?”

Ransom gave Holster a critical look, then grinned in that way that only someone on the wrong side of tipsy can. “Playing hide the sausage.”

Holster countered quickly with, “Making the beast with two backs.”

“Assault with a friendly weapon.”

“Entangling the lower beards.”

“Joint sessions of Congress.”

Holster held out a fist. “Bro, pound it out for that one.”

With a solemn nod, Ransom offered tapped his fist to Holster’s. Dex hoped that their (truly awful) back and forth would distract them from what was going on, but instead they plopped onto the couch to join in the conversation. Well, they pushed their way onto the couch, which was already too full, Ransom on one end and Holster in the middle of Nursey and Dex.

Whiskey pointed in Dex’s general direction, and told the captains, “Apparently, Dex has never had sex.”

Holster threw a big arm around Dex’s shoulder and turned toward him. Dex could smell tub juice wafting off of him. “Dex! My dude. My man. Bro. We gotta resolve this.”

“It’s not a problem. There’s nothing to resolve.”

On the other side of Holster, Dex could see his boyfriend’s concerned face. Nursey knew that Dex’s sexuality (well, his asexuality) was still a touchy subject. On the best of days, it was hard for him to have a conversation about. On the days after a game loss and with a group of drunken and less than subtle frat boys, well…. Chances were that it wasn’t going to go well.

“No, but Dex. Dexy. Dex. Sex is so good. Tell ‘im, Rans, tell him about… Shit, what’s a good one for Dex? Crab fishing in the dead sea.”

Dex scrunched up his face. “Dude, that’s fucking gross. And no, whatever fucking euphemism you use, the answer is no.”

On the other side of Holster, Nursey stood up and held a hand out to Dex, and yeah, that sounded like a better idea than having a discussion about life choices with a very drunk Holster. Dex pushed off the couch with a solid fist to Holster’s thigh, maybe a little harder than strictly necessary. He followed Nursey under the caution tape and up the stairs to Chowder’s room.

They spent the rest of the not-kegster (because apparently it could only be a kegster if they won the game) hiding out, watching Brooklyn-99. Dex could feel Nursey sending him concerned looks, but he ignored them. They fell asleep together, cuddling on the thin mattress.

When Dex woke up, he felt like he was roasting. Sometime during the night, Cate and Chowder had climbed into bed with them. Somehow, Cait ended up cuddling close to Nursey, while Chowder was curled up at their feet (probably because it was the closest to the bathroom door… he was a bit of a messy drunk).

Dex stripped off his hoodie and headed downstairs, where he could already hear the sounds of Bitty’s hangover breakfast being cooked. Bitty was in front of the stove wearing an oversized pair of sunglasses, listlessly tending to a pan. Ransom was sitting at the table, head in his hands; his shirt was on backwards. Holster, who had by far been the drunkest of the night, looked the most aware, running a big hand over Ransom’s back.

Dex really hoped that the conversation from last night had been forgotten in a daze of alcohol. He managed to get as far as pouring milk into his coffee when that hope was shattered

“Dex, we have a score to settle, my dude.”

“The fuck we do.” Dex slammed the fridge a little too hard, making Ransom hiss and Bitty flinch at the loud noise of rattling bottles inside.

Bitty waved his wooden spoon, pointing at Holster and Dex in turn. “If y’all are gonna be fightin’, you’d best get your butts out of my kitchen. It is too early and I am too hungover.”

Holster held up his hands in surrender. “Not fighting, just discussing. Important things. Very important discussions.”

The rest of the team chose that moment to walk down the stairs. Cait had pulled on Dex’s sweater, which fell well below the shorts she had been wearing to sleep. Chowder was following behind her, eyes closed, holding onto the hood of her borrowed sweatshirt so that he wouldn’t fall over. Nursey brought up the tail, shirtless and rubbing a hand over his stomach blearily.

He headed over to Dex and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. Cait settled her boyfriend in an empty chair before heading to the coffee maker and making a mug that Dex knew was for Chowder, since she didn’t drink caffeine. She bumped Dex’s shoulder and gave him a small smile.

“What is a very important topic?”

Holster jumped at the opportunity. “Dex has never had sex.”

At the stove, Bitty shook his head and muttered, “Lord give me strength.”

From where he was huddled, Chowder muttered something that sounded like, “a deck has an ace.” The only one who seemed to understand him was Cait, who looked between her boyfriend, Dex, and Holster with a surprised look on her face.

“Oh. Well, okay then. That makes sense.” She handed the mug to Chowder and perched on his knee.

Holster opened his mouth again, but before he could say anything, Bitty dropped a plate piled high with his special hangover eggs in the center of the table. Ransom and Chowder both groaned at the noise.

Trying to head off any more discussion before it began, Dex told Holster, “Look, I’m asexual. I don’t feel sexual attraction, so I don’t want to have sex.”

“But, like, how do you know that if you’ve never had sex?” Dex could tell that Holster had good intentions, or at least not bad ones; he just didn’t know any better. Hell, he wasn’t even focused on Dex. Instead, he had an arm slung around Ransom’s shoulders, trying to push a spoonful of eggs at his boyfriend.

Nursey broke into the conversation. His tone sounded casual, bored even, but Dex knew differently; that was how Nursey sounded when he was pissed off. “Yo, Bitty. Have you ever had sex with a woman?”

Bitty didn’t bother answer, just gave Nursey a look over the top of his sunglasses that said it all. Nursey turned his attention forward. “C, you ever fool around with a dude?”

“Nope.” Chowder didn’t bother to look up from his coffee.

“Cool, cool. Holster, have you ever let Ransom sleep with anyone else while you’ve been together?”

Dex could see Holster’s arm tighten slightly around Ransom’s shoulders. “What’s your point, Nurse?”

“I just find it funny, is all. You never questioned Bitty being gay, or Chowder being straight, or whether or not you’re actually polyamorous. You never tried to force anyone else into bed when they clearly don’t want to go. But Dex is somehow different, I guess. Weird.”

Without waiting for a response, Nursey stomped off. Dex followed after him. He heard the creak of the stairs, but when he got to Chowder’s room, he found it empty. It was a few seconds before he realized the window was cracked.

Dex absolutely hated the Reading Room, but he knew Nursey found it relaxing when he was in a particularly bad mood. He could make an exception for his upset boyfriend, so he climbed out, careful not to look down.

Nursey was sitting on the folding chair that had seen better days, rolling a cigarette between his hands. There was a tension in his shoulders that Dex hated to see. He sat down next to the chair, bracing himself on the roof with one hand and holding the other one out.

It was a long minute before Nursey sighed and handed Dex the cigarette. “I’m sorry, babe.”

“What for? You don’t have anything to apologize for.”

Dex wanted to march right back downstairs and punch Holster. He could say whatever he wanted about Dex, but upsetting Nursey was a step too far. Stress smoking was one thing. It didn’t take a lot to drive Nursey to pull out his emergency pack. But Dex had worked long and hard with Nursey about feeling guilty about things he had no control over. Nursey only did that when he was well and truly upset. Fucking Holster.

“I’m sorry that I spoke for you. And that you even had to deal with any of that shit to begin with The Haus should be a safe space for you,not a place where you have to explain yourself over your sexuality. It’s just bullshit, Dex.”

When they started dating, Dex and Nursey only had a short conversation about Dex’s sexuality. Well, it wasn’t a conversation so much as Dex told Nursey that he was ace, that they wouldn’t have sex, ever, and if that was a problem, they should stop before it even started. Dex was realizing that he owed Nursey the full conversation.

“Have I ever told you about Emily? Or Jake, or Tyson?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

Dex flicked the unlit cigarette over the edge of the roof and turned his attention fully to his boyfriend. “Emily was my first girlfriend. She was my first crush, and my first kiss, and she wanted to be my first time. But I didn’t want to have sex. She… well, she didn’t take that well and among other things, she called me a fag. That got me thinking, maybe I was gay.

“So, Jake was my first boyfriend. Except, in the end, I didn’t want to have sex with him either. He knew I was asexual before I did. He was supportive and I just… I fucking loved him, Nursey, I swear. He went off to Stanford, but told me that Samwell was more accepting, and that I could find someone for me.

He cleared his throat. “Tyson was in my kinesiology class the first semester of freshman year. We flirted and went on dates, but I made the decision not to tell him about being ace. When it did finally come up, it was like a repeat of Emily all over again.

“I thought that Emily’s reaction was because we were from a small town, or because she was straight, or that she was the outlier. Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that the shit Holster’s pulling? That’s the norm, and I’ve accepted it. He’s not trying to be malicious, he just doesn’t get it. Yeah, it pisses me off that he’s being ignorant, but at the end of the day, people who are supportive, like Jake, are who matter. You’re the only one who matters, Nursey.

Nursey finally looked at Dex. He didn’t say anything about Nursey’s misty eyes, just tilted his head up for a soft kiss.

Nursey clambered out of the folding chair so that he could cuddle closer to Dex. Head titled to sit on Dex’s shoulder, he asked, “So tell me about this first love… Jack? Jace? What was his name again?”

“Fucking jerk.” Dex couldn’t help but smile. “You would love him, too. He’s-”


	3. Chapter 3

“Y’all, full disclosure: I miss Jack, like a lot, but I miss the sex so much.” Bitty took another sip of his beer.

There wasn’t any particular occasion for them to be drinking, but they were anyway. Dex thought that getting drunk at 5pm on a Thursday was pretty dumb, but Holster insisted he be there. Team bonding or some shit. He was nursing his second beer, but everyone else seemed just this side of tipsy; somehow the conversation always turned to sex when they were tipsy.

Fuck, he wished Nursey was there. Stupid goddamn evening lab. Only twenty more minutes.

Holster nodded sagely. “Sex is very important in a relationship.”

Bitty and Ransom nodded along, but Tango, the only one who wasn’t drinking, looked just as uncomfortable as Dex felt. “So, um. Why exactly is sex important in a relationship?”

“It’s not,” Dex muttered, and snorted into his beer bottle. Anything that was about to come out of Holster’s mouth, Dex had heard before. Hell, most of the reasons sex was important to a relationship were things he told himself, over and over. Reasons he repeated to himself late at night why he was a horrible boyfriend. Things he used to justify his insistence to Nursey that they should break up.

Dex wanted to believe that sex wasn’t important, he really did. It was hard for him to resolve the fact that he didn’t want sex, he had no sexual attraction to anyone (even his own fucking boyfriend), and the fact that he was going to agree with anything Holster was going to say.

“Look, no offense to you and Nursey or anything, but sex is an essential part of a relationship. It brings a level of trust and intimacy that you just can’t get any other way.”

Dex shook his head, but couldn’t find the words to argue. Instead, he drained his beer, threw the bottle onto the recycling bin, and grabbed another from the center of the table. Tango nodded along, but still looked confused. A confused Tango could only mean one thing: he had a question.

“Okay, but sex just seems like… grunting and sweating and kind of a big mess. What’s intimate about that?”

Bitty leaned forward, sloshing a bit of beer on the table and ignoring it. “Well, you’re lettin’ someone else see you that way, ain’t ya?”

Holster gestured widely toward Bitty. “Exactly! And you have to trust that your partner isn’t going to call you on it, or tell you how your o-face looks stupid, or make a comment about your weird body hair.”

“Got a lot of problems with weird body hair, Holster?” Dex checked his watch again. Ten minutes until Nursey was back. He could handle that (maybe even without smacking someone).

Tango nodded, still with that confused look on his face. “Okay, so why is it no offense to Dex and Nursey?”

Before anyone else could answer that question, because frankly Dex didn’t think anyone could answer that question at the moment without being totally insensitive and horrible about it, Dex intercepted and said, “Nursey and I are dating, and I’m asexual. We don’t have sex. And so when everyone says ‘no offense’, what they really mean is that they don’t think Nursey and my relationship is as valid as theirs.”

Just like he expected, a chorus of voices erupted when he finished speaking. Bitty, Holster, and Ransom’s voices all overlapped.

“Now, hold on a sec-”

“C’mon Poindexter, you-”

“That’s not fair, bruh-”

He stopped them all with a glare. “You can argue about it all you want, but I know that’s what you honestly think. And you can say it to me all you want, but if you decide to pull this shit in front of Nursey, who’s the one giving up such a huge thing or whatever, then I will personally kick every one of your asses. Got it?”

Everyone immediately shut up. Dex knew he looked just this side of too intense, but he was so sick of trying to defend their relationship to everyone. He was sick of everyone implying that what they had was less, when they didn’t even realize that’s what they were doing.

The thing was, he could handle it. He was used to it, and even though he hated to admit it, he even believed some of it. But there was no way that Dex would let Nursey have to be the one to deal with that bullshit. Nursey, who was already giving up so much to be in a relationship with him, who got enough insecurity about having to give up sex from Dex himself, who shouldn’t have to be told that that sacrifice made him less somehow.

The Haus door closing cut through the silence. The stomp of heavy boots and clinking of buckles on his messanger bag let Dex know that his boyfriend was back.

Nursey walked up behind Dex and pressed a soft kiss to his hair. “Got out early. What’s up, babe?”

Dex stood up from his chair and grabbed Nursey’s hand, pulling him away from the crowd. He wished it was next year already so that they would have a room to go to, but it wasn’t and they didn’t. He considered leading Nursey to the basement, which had become something of a safe space for him, but decided that he’d rather go upstairs, to Chowder’s room. Chowder spent more time with Caitlin than at the Haus, anyway.

Once they got behind closed doors, Dex pulled Nursey into a tight hug, burying his face between his boyfriend’s neck and shoulder. He could only be so angry about the casual aphobia before it all fell away and he just felt… sad. And he had used up all his anger.

The feeling of Nursey’s big hands rubbing along his back was equal parts comforting and upsetting. He already gave up so much for Dex, and Dex just kept asking him for more, and more, and more. And what was he giving up for Nursey? A big fat fucking nothing.

He squeezed tighter, sure that it was uncomfortable for his boyfriend at this point. “I’m sorry I’m a shitty boyfriend.”

Nursey pulled back, enough to look at Dex. He unwrapped one of his arms from Dex’s back and cradled his face. “Hey, woah. What’s this all about?”

Dex shook his head, trying to look away, to look anywhere but Nursey’s face. He felt like the open concern and love on his boyfriend’s face was tearing his heart straight out of his chest. He didn’t deserve a look like that.

Nursey tried to catch his eyes, but gave up when it was obvious that Dex wouldn’t cooperate. Instead, he pressed a kiss to Dex’s temple and pulled him back against his chest. Dex could feel him breath a deep sigh.

“You don’t have to talk about it, Will. But I need you to trust me more than you trust the intrusive thoughts about this, okay? You are not a bad boyfriend. You don’t get to decide what being a good boyfriend means to me. Nobody but me gets to do that. And I love you, every little bit of you. Got it?”

Dex nodded. He wanted to trust Nursey, and he would try, but it would take time. The one thing he did know, though, was that Nursey would stick around for as long as it took. And that he was so fucking lucky for it.


	4. Chapter 4

“Jesus, Poindexter, how long are you gonna be in there? I though-”

Nursey’s voice trailed off as he pushed his way into their shared bathroom. The second Dex heard the door squeak open, he grabbed for the first thing he could reach to cover himself, which ended up being the dirty shirt he took off before his shower.

Dex knew how it looked, he fucking knew. Naked and still dripping, alone in the bathroom, flushed in embarrassment, ashamed and hiding. It looked like…

“Were you masturbating?” Nursey looked horrified, but Dex couldn’t really tell if it was because he spoke without thinking or because of the way his voice cracked in the middle.

That. It looked like fucking that.

Dex tightened his grip on the shirt in front of his junk. “No! No, i wasn’t fucking… masturbating.”

“It’s chill if you were,” Nursey hastened. “We never really talked about, y’know… that. And if you do, that’s fine. Good even! I’m not really one to talk, because I do it a lot. Regularly, even.”

Nursey was rambling. Which was just fucking weird for Dex to hear. He had never seen his boyfriend so awkward and… nervous. It made something nasty twist inside Dex. He had caused that; it was his fault.

“Nursey. Please stop talking. I wasn’t, okay.”

Dex could tell Nursey didn’t believe him. He sighed and scrubbed his free hand down his face, wiping away stray water droplets that had rolled down from his hair. He didn’t really want to talk about it, but he would do a lot of things for Nursey that he didn’t want to do. Hell, he would probably chop off his own fucking leg if Nursey asked.

“Look, you know how I’ve been going to that study group early Thursday mornings? Well, I’ve actually been… going to the counselling center, okay? And the counsellor person thought that I should do this stupid self love affirmation crap. Look in a mirror and tell myself nice shit. That’s what i was doing, okay?”

Nursey’s face flashed from confused to hurt before it finally settled on neutral. Somehow, the neutral almost hurt worse than anything else. It had been months since Nursey defaulted to that stupid fake chill bullshit with him.

“That’s cool, Will. It’s really awesome that you’re going to the counselling center.” His voice was just as blank as his face.

Dex wanted to explain that he hadn’t told Nursey because he didn’t want to get his boyfriend’s hopes up that htis was something he was going to stick to. He made the first appointment without any plans of actually going, and the same for the second, and the third. By the time it was a regualr thing, he didn’t have an explaination as to why he hid it from Nursey in the first place.

He wanted to explain that he was doing this for Nursey, that he understood his anger and emotions were getting in between them. For maybe the first time ever, Dex would rather change himself than lose someone else, and he wanted Nursey to know just how important that made him.

He desperately wanted to explain that he loved Nursey so much it scared him, and that he would do anything in his power to never be the reason that Nursey was wearing that fake chill face and that tension in his shoulders. Even embarrassing shit that made him feel stupid.

With a sigh, he reached out and grabbed Nursey’s hand. “Why don’t you stay and watch?”

Nursey thought about it for a minute, the longest goddamn minute of Dex’s life. In the end, though, he nodded and sat down on the closed toilet lid.

Dex grabbed the sheet of paper that had fluttered to the floor in the earlier chaos of trying to cover himself. He waved it a little, so that Nursey could see the chicken scratch scribbled on the front.

“Any time I have an intrusive thought or, y’know, think negative things about myself, I write it down. And then I come in here and tell myself the truth, or the opposite or whatever. Every few days, or if it gets too long.”

Nursey nodded. “And the naked thing?”

“I kept getting distracted,” he mumbled. After a second, he corrected himself. “I kept letting myself get distracted. Looking at my shirt instead of actually looking at me, y’know.”

Nursey nodded again, but didn’t say anything. Dex took it as a sign to continue, so he did. Taking a deep breath he turned back to face the mirror and placed the paper back against the sink so he could read it. He glanced back at his boyfriend once before dropping the shirt.

Dex remembered the first thing on the list. He remembered exactly where he was when he had the thought, down to the smell of the nasty perfume someone in his class was wearing and the place in his notes where he had to stop himself from getting up right then and there so that he could punch something. Or maybe cry.

“I am not ruining Nursey’s life by trapping him in a relationship he doesn’t want.”

He barely paused before the next one, because they were practically the same thought. “We are not my parents.”

For his entire childhood, he knew that was how his parents’ relationship worked. His mom didn’t want to be with his father, but felt guilty about leaving. She was trapped there but circumstance, and Dex told himself every night for years that he would never be as unnoticing or uncaring as his father was.

He wasn’t exactly sure why he got it in his head that he was doing exactly that to Nursey, but it was days before he could get it out. Because it really felt like that sometimes. Did Nursey really want to be with him, or did he just feel bad about leaving Dex, pity about his poor, fucked up asexual boyfriend. But no, Nursey loved him. He did.

“I am not defective or broken.”

That one Dex found harder to believe. Most of his sessions revolved around his asexuality, and reaffirming that it wasn’t a disorder or dysfunction. It wasn’t some phase, and it wasn’t a hindrance. It was just a part of Dex, like his red hair and his big ears. It was just another thing that Nursey fell in love with. In theory… in pracrice, it was really fucking hard to believe that.

“I deserve to have a healthy relationship even if I’m not healthy.”

That one his counselor helped him word after a particularly rough fight with Nursey. Dex tried to break up with him because it felt unfair that Nursey was stuck with such a fucking shitshow. He was pretty sure that Nursey was thinking of exactly that incident, because he took a deep breath, but didn’t say anything.

Dex paused before the next one. He glanced back at his boyfriend again. He had forgotten all about this one, written in the middle of the night after a bad nightmare. It wasn’t something he had ever brought up before, or even voiced to his counselor. Dex focused back on the mirror, looking himself in the eyes.

“I am good for more than my use. I am not a utilitarian thing. I am a unique person, I have a personality, and people like having me around for that and not the things i can provide them.”

On his bad days, on those days when he felt like he was only going through the motions, it was hard to remember that the team were friends and that they wanted him around. That he wasn’t just there to fix the Haus, or to explain things to Tango, or to carry an extra sweater for Nursey. He was worthwhile independent from his usefulness.

He already knew what the last one was. It was the same every time, because it was the one thing he wanted to believe more than anything else.

“I can be the person Nursey is proud to be dating. I can be good for him. I can love myself for him.”

Dex stayed focused on the mirror, repeating it in his head over and over. He noticed the flash of movement, but didn’t realize what it was until Nursey wrapped his arms around Dex from behind. He pressed small kisses on Dex’s shoulders, where he knew there was a particularly dense cluster of freckles, up his neck until he could feel lips pressed against his ear.

“I love you, babe. And I am so proud.”

Dex felt the flush rise to his cheeks again. Somehow, it was different with Nursey there next to him. It was a little easier to believe the things he was telling himself and a little harder to come up with arguments in his head why these things weren’t true.

He wrapped his arms around Nursey’s, hugging him as close as he could. The amount of love he felt was beyond words.

“So, do you masturbate, though?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is where new content starts, for everyone who's read my tumblr posts! :)

Something in the kitchen smelled delicious. Bitty was stress baking again, and Dex was planning on taking full advantage of that fact. But first, he wanted to give Nursey a kiss, for no other reason than he had a good day, and seeing his boyfriend would make it damn near perfect. Along with some pie.

Before he could get two stairs up, though, Bitty called out from the kitchen, “Is that my favorite helper I hear? Would you mind helping me out right quick, Dex?”

Dex paused, foot hovering over the squeaky third step. He wonderred if he could get away with sneaking upstairs for a quick kiss anyway. He was really thinking about going for it when Bitty called out again.

Okay then, no time.

He tossed his backpack to the floor next to the banister and slouched toward bitty’s voice. There were racks of cooling cookies, mini-pies, and muffins. They all smelled like apple and spice; Bitty must have been playing around with his apple pie recipe again. He was never quite satisfied with the spice combination.

Dex raised an eyebrow at his captain. “You know I never mind helping out, Bits, but it looks like you’re pretty much done in here.”

 

The oven was off and all the cookie sheets and muffin tins were already in the sink. Bitty had already wiped all the flour off the counters and he wasn’t even wearing his apron anymore. There was literally nothing for Dex to help out with.

Bitty was wringing his hands and shifting foot to foot in front of the table.

“Yeah, about that. Um… Why don't you sit down for a second?”

He pulled a chair out and al but pushed Dex into it. Dex went along with it because his captain looked so nervous. He could feel his good mood starting to fade.

Bitty dropped into the chair in front of him for all of two seconds before he jumped back up again.

“Bitty, bro, you’re starting to make me worry a little. What’s up?”

It wasn’t like it was unusual to see Bitty freaking out about things. Dex was pretty sure he was going to explode from pent-up anxiety one of these days. And during a Falc’s game, well… But it wasn’t normal for Bitty to be so nervous about talking to one of the guys. It was a bit disconcerting.

After pacing for a few seconds, Bitty fell back into the chair and grabbed Dex’s hands, holding them solidly in his own.

“Listen, Dex. I wanted to talk to you about… As your friend, mind, this isn’t your captain talking to you, alright?”

Dex waited for him to continue, but he didn’t. Not until Dex nodded his head. It seemed like Bitty took that as a sign to continue.

“I’m just wondering… Or, well, I guess I’m saying… I don’t think Nursey is good for you.”

Dex pulled his hands out of Bitty’s hold. He wanted to snap to yell that Nursey was the best thing that ever happened to him, that Bitty had no right to say any different. Dex wanted to get in his face and scream that Bitty had no place to decide what a good relationship looked like when Dex could hear him across the hall at night, crying after Skype calls with Jack. Not because he believed it, but because he wanted to hurt Bitty.

But he didn’t say any of those things, because he was working on his temper, and he could picture the look of disappointment Nursey would have if he heard that Dex had done something so mean=hearted when Bitty was just trying to be a friend.

Instead, he asked in a tight voice, “What are you talking about, Bitty?”

He could see unshed tears in Bitty’s eyes. “Look, Dex. Will. I know he’s seemed really great and accepting of your being asexual. But, honey, after I got home from class, I noticed a sock on y’all’s door and I figured that Nursey just needed some quiet time, the way he he does sometimes. But then I… I heard noises. I think he’s cheating on you.”

Dex held his breath. He knew that wasn’t right. It couldn’t be. Nursey loved him. And was actually good at shit like communication. If he had a problem, he would have brought it up to Dex… Wouldn’t he?

Dex wanted to believe that so bad, but there was a huge part of him that was screaming that he knew it was going to happen. Nursey was sexual, of course he wanted sex. Dex wouldn’t give it to him, so he went somewhere else for it.

“Are you positive, Bitty,” he asked, already knowing that he wouldn’t have said something if he wasn’t already damn sure.

“I didn’t walk in on him or nothing, but the noises were pretty damning, Will.”

“Okay. Okay.” Dex stood up. He needed to talk to Nursey. If he waited, it would just give his brain time to run away with all his fucked up thoughts.

He didn’t want to. He wanted to find somewhere to hide away and pretend like Bitty never talked to him in the first place. He wanted to pretend like he could go back in time, to when he thought his boyfriend was the center of his world, and the most supportive person he’d ever had in his life.

He knew he couldn’t do that, though. So, Dex started up the stairs, to the room him and Nursey shared. He dragged his feet, walking more slowly than he ever had.

Dex almost felt like crying when he saw that a sock was still hanging limp on the bedroom doorknob. It was a navy blue dress sock, half of a pair that had sat in been shoved to the back of their shared sock drawer for months.

He strained his ears, but couldn't hear anything from the other side. He took a deep breath, steeled himself, and knocked. It was a few seconds before Nursey appeared on the other side. He looked confused, but happy to see Dex.

“Hey, babe. Is there a particular reason why you’re knocking on your own bedroom door?”

Dex couldn’t bring himself to speak. Nursey looked so beautiful, the way he always did, even wearing a loose tank top and Samwell sweatpants. He couldn’t make sense in his head that his beautiful boyfriend could do something so horrible to him. Dex reached a hand out and snagged the sock, holding it up for Nursey to see as an answer to his question.

A flush rose on Nursey’s cheeks. “Oh, right. I forgot about that.”

He grabbed it and ambled back into their room, leaving the door wide open. Dex slowly followed, closing it gently behind him.

Nursey had climbed back onto his bed, in front of his open laptop. He restarted the episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine he was in the middle of. He grinned down at Dex and held out one of his earbuds, offering.

Dex shook his head and cleared his throat.

“Actually, I was wondering if we could talk?” His voice was weak and he hated it.

Nursey’s face changed, immediately sensing how serious the subject was. His eyebrows scrunched in concern and he paused the video.

“What’s up, what do you want to talk about?”

Dex didn’t know where to start. He could try to work up to the topic, find a way to lead into it. But he was never good at that, and he was too worked up to sit through the small talk. So, straight into it.

“Earlier, were you in here with someone? Were you fucking someone?”

Nursey’s face went from that concerned expression to carefully neutral, to outright angry in the blink of an eye. Dex could practically see his every muscle tense up. His eyes narrowed and in a voice that seemed almost too calm, he asked Dex, “What did you just ask me?”

He hadn’t meant to upset his boyfriend so much. It was clear to Dex that he had fucked up by asking how he did. Dex climbed up the ladder and joined Nursey on his bunk, putting a hand on his knee. 

 

“I’m sorry, I should have phrased that differently. That was shitty.”

Nursey sighed, but put his hand over Dex’s. “Yeah, it was. Really, really shitty. So why don’t you explain it for me?”

“Earlier, Bitty passed by and said he heard… noises. Y’know, sex noises. And between that and the sock on the door, the international symbol for hooking up. Well, he freaked out and told me, and I freaked out, and here I am.”

Nursey was quiet for a few long minutes. It looked like he was trying to arrange his thoughts in his head, so Dex didn’t say anything. It was so fucking hard not to say anything, but Nursey was great about giving Dex time to process, so he should do his best to give his boyfriend that back in return.

He reached out and closed his laptop, shifting so that he was facing Dex more directly instead of sitting side by side. 

“I didn’t have anyone in here with me. That’s something I would never, ever do to you, and I need you to understand that I’m upset you’d think so, even in passing. But that’s a conversation for another time.

“I’m usually the only one in the Haus at this time on Thursdays, so I use the alone time to have a little alone time, if you get what i mean. We never really talked about it before, so I never brought it up.”

Dex nodded. Besides that he mentioned to Nursey in passing that he did, in fact, masturbate, they had kept putting off the conversation about what the boundaries were. It was surreal that two guys in their early 20s had to have a serious conversation about masturbation. It was just another thing that Dex’s stupid fucking sexuality messed up.

Before Dex could say anything, or even figure out what to say, Nursey said, “I did some reading last time this came up, and I know that libido has nothing to do with sexual attraction. I’m cool with you doing whatever you do, but I didn’t know how comfortable you were talking about my habits.”

“You did research… about ace stuff?”

Nursey rolled his eyes. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, Poindexter, but my boyfriend is ace and I kinda love him, so yeah, I did research.”

Dex leaned over and kissed Nursey. He was blown away that his boyfriend would put in that sort of effort for him. Hell, Dex barely did research into being ace. It was like moments just like this that made Dex fall further and further in love with Nursey.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, holding hands and exchanging gentle kisses. Dex would happily stay there like that all day, but they should probably finish their conversation first. He pressed a last small kiss to Nursey’s lips and pulled away. 

“For the record, I don’t care that you masturbate, or watch porn. Hell, if you decide you never want to use headphones again, that’s cool by me. And I’m okay talking about it, if you want to.”

Nursey tilted his head to rest on Dex’s shoulder and started playing with his fingers. “I was, us. Actually wondering about something. I have some of my favorite videos saved, and I was thinking it may be chill if you checked them out? In your, uh, free time, that is.”

Dex could tell that he was nervous, so he made sure to choose his words carefully. “Just as clarification, not as judgment. You want me to watch your porn next time I jack off?”

He felt Nursey nod against his shoulder. “Obviously you don’t have to if you don’t want to. But I thought that it may be kinda special. Even if we’re not having sex together it’s still like a shared experience.”

It was actually a really great idea, one that he was pretty sure he never would have thought of on his own. For maybe the first time in his life, Dex was actually excited thinking about the sexual side of his relationship. Nursey was being careful to respect his boundaries and come up with suggestions that work for both of them. And he wouldn’t tell Nursey, but he thought that maybe this way he could work up to trying to do something together, or at least in the same room at the same time.

“I’d really like that. Save some things on my laptop and I’ll check them out. I do have a question, though.”

“Yeah?”

“You don’t watch any weird kink things, right? You’re not about to load a bunch of feet, or armpits, or weird daddy kink crap on my computer?”

Nursey laughed and shoved Dex away from him, then pulled him right back in. He grabbed his laptop off the bed and opened it, hitting restart on the episode he was watching when Dex came in the room. Eventually, Dex would have to go let Bitty know that everything was alright between him and Nursey. For now, though, cuddling and Brooklyn 99 sounded pretty damn good.


	6. Chapter 6

Dex sat at the table watching Bitty putter around the kitchen. He had been there for 20 minutes, pretending to do homework and trying to work up the courage to talk to his captain. He was pretty sure that Bitty knew he had something he wanted to ask, because Bitty’s baking playlist (a self-imposed time limit on his baking in an effort to keep his semester on schedule) was long-over.

Dex couldn’t put it off any longer, though. It was getting time for Chowder and Nursey to be home, and Dex wanted at least the illusion of privacy (with Ollie and Wickie in the attic, they weren’t actually alone, but it was close enough).

He set aside the history timeline he wasn’t actually working on and cleared his throat. “Hey, Bitty? Can I ask you something?”

Bitty quickly looked up from the lattice he was weaving, then back down. “Sure, Dex. What's on your mind?”

“Well,” he started, then paused. It occurred to him that this was an extremely personal question. But Bitty had always been open about his sexuality and told the tadpoles that they were free to ask any questions they had. Dex was at least mostly sure that extended to the frogs, too.

“Well, I was wondering about how you came out to your parents?”

Bitty stopped in the middle of an intricate weave. He didn’t say or do anything for a few minutes. Finally, in a tight voice he told Dex, “I haven’t and don’t have any plans to. Is there a particular reason you’re askin’?”

It looked like every muscle in Bitty’s body was tight, and his accent more pronounced than it had been in nearly a year.

Dex hadn’t know that Bitty wasn’t out to his parents. He seemed so close to his mom, and Dex knew that Jack had told his own parents about their relationship. And Bitty and Jack seemed to have such a close relationship, one with no problems. 

That’s what Dex got for making assumptions.

“I wanted some advice… to come out to mine. Nursey’s parents are so loving and supportive that he never actually came out, he just brought a boyfriend home one day.”

The tension in Bitty’s shoulders seemed to ease a little bit. He carefully finished his lattice and set the pie aside before turning his full attention to Dex. He had a smudge of flour across his forehead.

“Were you looking for advice about whether or not to do it, or what to say when you do?”

Dex didn’t really know the answer that question. He was pretty sure, at least, that he wanted to come out to his family. He wanted to bring Nursey home and introduce him this time as “my boyfriend” instead of “my partner and mandatory bonding buddy so I don’t get kicked off the hockey team”. It felt important.

At the same time, though, Nursey wasn’t the first guy he had feelings for, or even dated, but he hadn't come out them. He almost had, when he was 17 and knew he was in love with Jake. He hadn’t, though, because he wasn’t sure how his parents would react. They didn’t always see eye to eye, but Dex loved his parents; he didn’t think he could handle them hating him. 

And, on top of that, he didn’t know where to start with his label. His parents wouldn’t exactly understand “asexual and biromantic”. He could tell them he was bi, but that wouldn’t be right, not really. It would be dishonest to himself to let them assume that he was allosexual. Would it still be coming out, really, if that wasn’t a part of it? And did he really want his parents thinking about his sex life?

“Both, I guess,” he finally told Bitty. Because, really, any advice would be good at this point.

Bitty nodded and started fidgeting with some of Dex’s papers on the table between them.

“Look, Will. If you want help coming out, you can talk to Holster, or Lardo, or even Jack. I can’t help with that. But I can say this: all of them have loving, supportive parents. Maybe not the same as Nursey, but then never seriously doubted their parents’ reaction, not really. Now, that isn’t to say it wasn’t a nervous experience for them. I don’t want to make it seem like that’s the case. Coming out always is.

“They knew that bi, or polyam, or nonbinary, or gay, their parents were gonna love them at the end of the day. I don’t have that same confidence, and since you’re strugglin’, I’d bet you don’t either. So, I think the real question you gotta ask yourself is: how important is coming out to you? Is it something that you’re willing to give up your family for?”

And that was really the question, wasn’t it? Nursey meant the world to him, and more than that, this was part of who he was. Before he could get too lost in thought, Bitty patted his hand and said, “Just remember that who you are isn’t dictated by who knows about it. You are ace and you love Nursey. Those facts don’t change just because your parents don’t know them.”

Behind them, the door opened and Nursey and Chowder’s happy voices filled the Haus. Bitty gave Dex a final smile and got up to slip his pie in the oven. He caught the other frogs at the entrance of the kitchen, and smiled at them.

“Hey, Nursey. Hey, Chowder, would you mind helping me with something upstairs right quick?”

Chowder happily followed Bitty out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Dex was pretty sure that there wasn’t actually anything Bitty needed help with, but he appreciated that he would have some alone time with Nursey to talk. 

Dex looked at his boyfriend, standing in the doorway of kitchen with a wide smile on his face. He was struck with how beautiful Nursey was. He was wearing a fuzzy purple sweater and a pair of baggy sweatpants that Dex was pretty sure came from his closet. It wasn’t anything special, but he looked phenomenal. And his smile… the most beautiful thing of all.

He watched, overwhelmed, as his boyfriend walked toward him. Nursey twined their fingers together and pulled Dex out of his chair for a kiss. It was there and gone in seconds, just a brief press of lips. When he pulled back, Dex could see Nursey smiling wide.

“Where’s my chill boyfriend and what have you done with him? Smiling is a deal breaker and you know it,” he deadpanned. 

Nursey rolled his eyes, and pulled Dex in closer. “Whatever.”

He was joking with Nursey, but Dex loved seeing his boyfriend so happy. He kind of hated to ruin it by bringing up a serious topic, but at the same time, Dex knew that Nursey would be more frustrated if he knew that Dex was holding something back.

He pressed another light kiss on Nursey’s lips, then pulled back enough that he could look at Nursey completely. Not enough to pull out of his arms, though. “So, um. You know ow we talked last week about me coming out?”

Dex knew he would. They talked about it on the way home from a game at Harvard, a whispered conversation on the bus while most of the team slept around them. Nursey brought it up, wondering if Dex was out to his family. There was no pressure, just curiosity. 

Nursey nodded. “Yeah, you said you wanted to think about it some more.”

At the time, Dex didn’t really expect that he was going to actually give it much of a thought, but that night, he ended up laying in bed for hours, thinking about it. 

“Would you be bothered… if I decided not to?”

“No, babe! Of course not.” He squeezed Dex’s fingers lightly. “If you’re not comfortable with it, I’ll never ask you to.”

There was something about the way he phrased it that made something in Dex’s stomach flutter. Nursey wasn’t asking if Dex was ready, he wasn’t implying that it was something that Dex would have to do eventually. It was about his comfort levels.

That, above everything else, above what Bitty said, made Dex settle. It didn’t matter what decision he made, it was going to be okay.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Just literally any nurseydex fluff w ace Dex please and thanks 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt from anon. I'm not sure if this has too many feelings for fluff, but I'm pretty happy with it. Hopefully anon is, too

When Dex opened the door to his and Nursey’s room, he stopped with one foot through the threshold. It was not how he left it that morning. It was… well, it was clean. It wasn’t that their room was usually messy, but it was never clean unless Dex was the one who cleaned it. 

That morning, before he left for his first class, there had been a pile of sweaters and cardigans on Nursey’s bed; he was looking for his favorite, which had somehow ended up at the bottom of the drawer (again). There were also snack wrappers littering the floor from their marathon the night before, and the growing collection of empty coffee mugs that never made it back down to the kitchen was threatening to tumble over the edge of Nursey’s desk.

All of that was gone now. On top of that, the bookshelf that was usually overflowing with Nursey’s frankly ridiculous collection of books had been straightened out and it looked like the beds had been made (not well, but they weren’t the usual nest, at least). Dex could even smell a weird mix of off brand Fabreze and Bitty’s “Sweet Home Georgia” candles.

He couldn’t see Nursey anywhere, but there was a familiar off-key humming in the bathroom. Nursey never cleaned the bathroom. Neither did Chowder. Dex was the only one who ever did (and frankly, he was okay with that because he knew that he was doing a thorough job of it).

He had no clue what was going on, but something had to be. He wanted to believe it was innocent, but that horrible, destructive part of his brain said that it was bad and wrong. It was an apology, that Nursey was breaking up with Dex, that he couldn’t deal with no sex, that he was cheating, that, that, that.

Except Dex knew better than to let himself get lost in intrusive thoughts. He trusted Nursey, and he trusted that Nursey would come to him if he had a problem. And, even if that wasn't the case, they already had the Polyamory Talk, and Nursey knew that if he needed more than Dex could give him, sexually, then they could discuss Nursey going outside of the relationships for those needs. They were good. They were solid.

But he still had no clue why Nursey was cleaning, so he dropped his bookbag, leaned against his desk, and waited. He was impatient, but thankfully only had to wait through a song and a half before his boyfriend finished whatever he was doing in the bathroom.

Nursey tripped coming out of the bathroom, and Dex couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous he looked. He was wearing his fuzzy green sweater, but the black jeans he spent five minutes hopping into were nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t unusual for Nursey to walk around in just a comfy shirt and boxers, but it was a very strange sight to see that paired with thick rubber gloves, and one of Bitty’s soft blue aprons.

“You’re early!” Nursey tugged off the gloves and tossed them toward the trash can, missing by two feet. There was a blush rising on his cheeks as he walked over to Dex and pressed a small kiss to his cheek, a habit he had gotten into since Dex wasn’t always in a mood to accept affection.

“Bitty’s going to fucking kill you when he finds out that you took one of his aprons.” Dex gave him an unimpressed look, but pulled him back in for a real kiss, soft but solidly against Nursey’s lips.

Nursey blushed darker. “I don’t have any clothes I don’t mind getting bleach on, and I didn’t want to ruin anything of yours without asking.”

The embarrassed look was actually adorable on Nursey. He was usually so confident and shameless, Dex never got to see this side of him. Part of him wanted to ease whatever nerves his boyfriend was feeling. The bigger part of him wanted to poke at him a bit first. An old reflex.

He raised an eyebrow at Nursey, but grabbed his hand in a loose hold. “So, what’s up with this whole maid act you have going on?”

Nursey shrugged his shoulders and shifted around on his feet. “I just wanted to do something nice for you. You’re a huge sap and a great boyfriend. You remember to buy me the off brand of octopus gummies that I like, and you give me shoulder rubs when I read all hunched over, and you watched three and a half hours of animated 70s Star Trek with me last night even though I know you hated every second of it.”

None of that was wrong, but Dex didn’t do any of it to be a good boyfriend, or to earn points. He just wanted to make Nursey happy. Sure, he prefered Haribo to the off brand, but it wasn’t exactly a huge sacrifice to save money on junk food. The massages were preventative, so he didn’t have to hear Nursey bitching all night about aches. And okay, Star Trek the Animated Series was a bit painful to watch, but he spent most of the time watching his boyfriend, anyway. Dex loved the little dimples that Nursey got when he giggled at the bad writing.

And, on top of all of that, Nursey was acting like he never did anything for Dex. The reality was that he gave up a lot for Dex; more than a lot of people would be willing to give up. More than anyone else had given up for Dex.

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate all this, I really do, but you gave up sex for me, Nursey. You’re always going to win the best boyfriend contest between the two of us.”

Nursey rolled his eyes so hard that Dex was surprised his head didn’t roll right off his shoulders. 

“Screw that. That’s not me being a good boyfriend, dude, that’s being a decent human being. Being a good boyfriend is this shit. Cleaning, and queueing a season of Top Chef Masters on my Netflix, and making sure the living room was clear for at least two hours so we could binge it and drink the whole gross ass pitcher of Arnold Palmers I made for you.”

That was… Dex didn’t even know how to feel about that. He was overwhelmed that nursey would go through all that trouble just for him. They didn’t keep lemonade in the Haus, since Dex was the only one who drank it. That meant that Nursey went to the murder stop and shop just for him. And on top of that, he was willing to watch Top Chef Masters? Nursey had watched exactly two episodes before, and told Dex that he would rather sort through dirty jockstraps than watch a third. 

And okay, he could see Nursey doing those things without having to go out of his way too much. But reserving time alone in the living room?

It was impossible to get everyone to agree to clear out of the living room of the Haus. There was always someone hanging around, between Bitty starting a queer athletes association, Tango’s premed study groups, and Mikey, who practically camped out there because he was having a hard time adjusting to college life. Dex couldn’t even imagine how many favors Nursey had to call into make that happen. 

Nursey pulled Dex out of his thoughts by tugging on his hand and asking, “You alright? You have constipation face.”

“You really did all that for me?” His voice felt small, which made him feel stupid. He could feel his ears turning red in embarrassment. But it felt… extraordinarily nice to have his boyfriend doing things for him, even little things. He loved Nursey, and he knew Nursey loved him, but knowing something was different than seeing the evidence right in front of him.

“Dude, ch’yeah. I mean, it’s all stuff you’ve done for me before.”

Nursey must have been able to see something on his face, Dex’s discomfort over the situation (or, more accurately, his discomfort over his own feelings), and say anything more. Instead, he whipped off his (Bitty’s) apron and started pulling Dex back toward their bedroom door.

“We have the couch from 3 to 5. We have enough time to get everything settled and kick everyone out, then it’s two hours of quality couch cuddles.”

As good as privacy was, their beds were tiny. Cuddling on the couch sounded pretty fucking great. He quickly kicked off his shoes and started following nursey down the stairs. He pulled back for a second at the top stair and asked, “Don’t you want to put on pants first?”

Nursey threw a smirk over his shoulder and said, “Nah, it’s chill.”

Couch cuddles were even better than Dex expected.


End file.
